|
Lynn and Katherine Rohrbough
|
|
Lynn and Katherine Rohrbough, husband and wife and graduate students at Boston University's School of Theology, recognized a need for fun and wholesome activities for church groups. With a group of students, the Rohrboughs created a game book and recreation kit for church parties. The kit met with high acclaim, so the couple went into the publishing business as the Church Recreation Service. In 1929, they moved to a farm near Delaware, Ohio, and made their barn into a publishing firm.
In the early 1930s, the Rohrboughs traveled the United States as church recreation leaders, teaching and collecting songs, dances, and games. During their travels, they encountered Chester and Margaret Graham, who directed the Ashland Folk School in Michigan from 1928 to 1938. The Grahams introduced the Rohrboughs to recreational folk dancing.
When the Rohrboughs returned to their farm, they took the name "Cooperative Recreation Service" and published several pocket-sized books, including Play Party Games (1930 and 1932), Quadrilles (1931), Singing-games (1938), Square Dances of the Great Smoky Mountains (1939), American Folk Dances (1939), and Favorite Square Dances (1941). These books served countless church groups, youth groups, recreational folk dance teachers, and other folk song and dance enthusiasts.
The Rohrbough family sold the Cooperative Recreation Service to a group of friends in 1967, and the company continues as World Around Songs.
Lynn and Katherine's publications include
- American Folk Dances. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service Publications, 1939.
- Favorite Square Dances. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service Publications, 1941.
- Games: We Like Best. Richard R. Smith Inc, 1931. 184 pp. Hardcover.
- Kit (The). Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service Publications. A quarterly publication furnishing up-to-date recreation materials.
- Play Party Games: Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service Publications, 1930.
- Play Party Games of Pioneer Times: Set down from original sources in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Iowa. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service Publications, 1940.
- Quadrilles. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service Publications, 1931.
- Singing-games. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service Publications, 1938.
- Square Dances of the Great Smoky Mountains. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service Publications, 1939.